Reversing mechanism.



No. 666,776. PAIBNTED smxzli, 19cm A'. P. GR'ELL.

RBVERSING MEGHANISM. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 5. 1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET v1.

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No. 866,776. PATENTED SEPT. 24, 1907.

A. P. CRBLL. REVERSING MEGHANISM.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 5, 1907.

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

i a I l a AIJ, O ff y y nueuro l l @L/@ ALBERT P. GRELL, OF IGNIA, MICHIGAN.

nEvEnsING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 24, 1907.

Application filed ,I une 5, 1907. Serial No. 377,459.

To all whom it may concern:

4Be it known that I, ALBERT P. CRELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ionia, in the county of Ionia and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful lImprovements in'Reversing Mecllanism, of which the following is a specification. v

My invention relates `to improvements in reversing mechanism for use upon machines that must be readily reversed to 'run alternately, rst in one direction and thei'rin the opposite direction, and particularly for use iipon washing machines, churns, and kindred machines, and its objects are: First, to provide a reversing mechanism that will be positivc'in its action and automatic in its working. Second, to provide a reversing mechanism that will be positively locked to place when in actual work, and which will readily trip and reverse itself at the desired time, and, third, to provide a reversing mechanism that may be set tolreverse itself at longer or shorter intervals, as desired. I attain these 'objectsby the mechanism illustrated in the accom; .panying drawing in which 4 Figure l is a top plan of the mechanism. Fig. 2 is l'liep-same with the. upper' plate removed to show the ,ocling and tripping mechanism more plainly. Fig. 3 isa side elevation of the same.4 Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the base with the reversing mechanism re' 'mved, and shown in section on the line x x of Fig. 2.

Figl is an edge view of the upper plate. Fig. 6 is a vbottom plan of the same, partly in perspective. Fig. ,'Z'is a plan of the trip showing an adjusting screw, Fig. .8 is an end view of the sa1ne, and Fig. 9 isa bottom @1an of the actuating nut, showing inclines thereon.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the ei/eral views. v

- l Lathe drawing A represents the base or supporting plate vthat. supports the entire worling mechanism of the lmachine.' This plate is provided with boxes a forthe' support of the shaft D; with ,an upwardlyprojectingbed a for the support oi the'upper plate B and aiincline A/ and bearing h for seating and supporting the lower end ofthe shaft H that carriesthegear wheel AH. The upper end of the shaft H/ is supported by the Ll'beariiigh, to revolvefreely between the bearings h sain/.f f t For thegr'eversing.;I mechanism I mount the shaft D 'inthe boxes a a and provide a gear wheel G at one end in position-to engage', or be engaged by the gear wheel fHfto' cause the shaft H to revolve, as the shaft D revolves. Between, and adjacent to the boxes a a/ I mount two bevel gear wheels, E and Ef, in such. amanner that they will, in their normal condition, revolve .freely upon the shait D and provide each ol' these gear wheels with a clutching device j arranged to be made to engage, alternately, the corresponding clutching devices at each end of the reversing clutch I, which is .mounted upon the shaft D to slide longitudinal thereof between the gear wheels E and E', but is pre-v vented froin revolving thereon, or of allowing the' shaft' to revolve independent of this clutch, by the key or spline d, see Fig. l. The gear wheels E and E are made to revolve by the gear wheel F, which is mounted on the shaft F and as the gear wheels E andE are mounted diametri'cally opposite each other, relative to the gear F, they, as a matter of course, are made to revolve in lopposite directions so that if the clutch .l is thrown over to engage the gear wheel E the shaft D will be made to revolve, say, to the right, and if it is made y to engage the gear wheel E the shaft D will be made to revolve the opposite direction, say, to the left, and as the back, or right hand end of the shaft Dis pro'- vided with a screw thread, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, and has a nut I mounted thereon to be actuated by said screw thread to travel lengthwise of the bolt, rst one way and then the other as the motion o the shaft is reversed, and the clutch J is actuated to engage first the gear wheel E and then tl1e-gear wheel E', alternately, as follows: A latch C is pivoted, at'one end, to the base A, as at Ic, so that the other end may\be made to swing back from, or toward the trip L which is'piv oted to the base A at l so that it may be actuated to throw the latch@ back against the tension of the spring- K, or. its etpiivalent.` This trip is actuated by the nut I coming in contact with the arms'l l on-the trip, and I find that this trip is muchlnore effectually operated by means of an incline, as I, on the under surface of the nut I as, with this arrangement, the action of the nuty upon the trip is of a sliding angular inclinevrather than a direct longitudinal push, as is the case when'the nut simply presses directly against the sides of the arms Z Z.

Above the latch, C I place an upper. plate B, which"v is held to place upon the bed A and the latch C by swing with the upper plate as it moves lengthwise.

and e gages the clutch .I so'that when the plate B slides in either direction it will carry the clutch with it, thus alternating the position of the clutch to make it engage first the gear wheel E and then the gear wheel E', Continuously, as long as the machine isin operation, and to actuate the plate B I find it well to secure two springs; as I/, to' the plate upon posts, as i" i', with resistance posts, as if toA hold the springs against the action. ofthe nut I as it is carried back and forth on the shaft D, as hereinbefore described, the long ends, ofthe springs I being made to engage the lug t' on the nut l so that as the nut is moving in either direction the spring on the side toward which the nut is traveling will he engaged and carried with the nut until considerable tension isproduced and thenut approaches one of the arms l'on the trip L and throws the trip around until the lug b on the plate is released from the lug c, in the slot c in the'latch C, when the tension ofthe spring will force the plate B endwise and disengage the clutch .I from one of the gear wheels, say E, and carry it into engagement with the gear wheel E", etc., thus reversing the motion of the shaft and, with it, the motion of the actuating nut I and, alternately, reversing the motionA of the gear wheel H and the shaft H for continuation to any machinery that maybe connected therewith.

To lengthen or shorten the travel oi the nut I, and thereby lengthen or shorten the length of time the shaft H revolves in each direction, I iind that the most convenient means is the use oa set screw, as N, in one of therarms loi the trip L, though there are several mechanical means for producing the same result In vthe construction shown in the accompanying drawings I have indicated the use of a fiat spring K acting directly upon the back edge of the latch C, but I do not4 desire to restrict myself to this special spring as any available form oi spring may be used without departing from the spirit of my invention.

The shaft F is provided with a proper support tol hold it in position to allow the gear wheel F to pass through the opening a7 in position to properly engage the gear wheels E and E.

It sometimes happens that the upper plate .B will be held by the clutch, so solidly that the springs I Cannot actuate it, and to obviate this diflculty I place pins l in the plate in position so that after 'the nut I has thrown the trip L and the plate B does not move, the further movementof the nut in the same direction will bring it in contact with one of these pins and draw the plate far enough so that the springs will easily carry it to the desired position to reverse the motion of the mechanism. J l

Having thus ully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

l. In a reversing mechanism, a base plate having boxes thereon, a driving shaft and gear revolubly secured tbere seavro to, a shaft mounted to revolve in the boxes at right angles with the driving shaft,two gear wheels revolubly mounted on the second shaft between the boxes and engaging the driving gear atv diametrically opposite points, a clutch mounted on said shaft between the gear wheels and ar ranged to engage each alternately, a spline in the shaft to revolve the clutch with the shaft, said shaft having a screw thread at one end, a nut actuated by said screw thread, a sliding plate, a latch, a trip, andsprings arranged to actuate the clutch longitudinally of the shaft. t

2, The combination ina reversing mechanism, of a base plate having boxes thereon, a driving shaft and gear wheel at right angles with the'plate, a shaft supported in the boxes parallel with the plate, and having a screw thread:

onone end, two gear wheels revolubly mounted on the shaft between the boxes and engaging the driving gear wheel at diametrically opposite points, a nut mounted on the screw threaded end of the shaft, a trip pivotally mounted on the base`plate in the line of travel of the nut. a latch pivotally connected with the base plate at one end and having a lug thereon a spring for actuating said latch against the trip, an upper plate slidably mounted over the latch and having a luf,r engaging the'lugl on the latch, springs connecting the plate with, and actuated by the nut, an arm extending from the plate and engaging the clutch for actuating the clutch lengthwise of the shaft, and a spline on the shaft for revolving the clutch with the shaft. f

3. The combination in reversing mechanism, of a base". plate, boxes on the base plate, a drivingshaft mounted at right angles with thebase plate, -a driving -gear mounted on said shaft, a shaft mounted in the boxes parallel with the base plate. and having a screw thread on one end, a nut engaging said screw thread and actuated'thereby, a gear wheel on the other endof thev shaft, ashaft mounted mounted on saidshatt and engaging the gear wheel' on the parallel shaft, gear wheels mounted on the parallel shaft in the base plate at right angles therewith, a gear -Wheel between the boxes and revoluble thereon, said gear-'Wheels yv engaging'the driving gear at diametrically opposite p a clutch sldingly mounted on said shaft between t ,.ssl. -wheels. a spline in the shaft engaging said clutch, 'alan-f gitudinally sliding plate having an arm thereon engaging In presence of-V A. C. CoLviN, L. H. Rnc'ron. 

